Ivo Karlovic Reaches Semi's of Houston

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) (#174) had to qualify in Houston just to get to the main draw, but he reaches the semifinals, only to lose to Ryan Sweeting.  This should improve his ranking a bit, after also reaching the quarters of Doha and Indian Wells.  This was his path to the semi's -

SF - Ryan Sweeting (USA) (#93) 67(3) 36
QF - John Isner (USA) (29) 76(2) 67(2) 76(9)
2R - Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) (#89) 64 61
1R - Benjamin Becker (GER) (#65) 76(5) 64

Pablo Cuevas Gets To The Semi's of Houston

Pablo Cuevas (URU) (#66) has had a lackluster year, till he reaches the semi's of Houston, his first big breakthrough this year.  He however, lost to Kei Nishikori.  This was his path to the semi's -

SF - lost to Kei Nishikori (JPN) (#61) 36 57
QF - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) (#27) 16 76(4) 63
2R - James Blake (USA) (#163) 75 61
1R - Ricardo Mello (BRA) (#86) 62 60

Kei Nishikori Gets Into His First ATP Final of 2011 in Houston

Kei Nishikori (JPN) (#61) finally reaches his first final this year in Houston. For this year, he reached the semi's in Delray Beach and the quarters in Chennai.  He however, loses to Ryan Sweeting in the finals in Houston.  This was his path to the finals -

F - lost to Ryan Sweeting (USA) (#93) 46 67(3)
SF - Pablo Cuevas (URU) (#66) 63 75
QF - Mardy Fish (USA) (#11) 63 62
2R - Igor Andreev (RUS) (#97) 63 63
1R - Franco Skugor (CRO) (#149) 63 62

Ryan Sweeting Wins His First Clay Title in Houston

Ryan Sweeting (USA) (#93) wins his first ATP title in Houston.  Ryan has been to the quarters of Honolulu and Delray Beach and then takes it several notches higher here in Houston.  This was his path to the championship -

F - Kei Nishikori (JPN) (#61) 64 76(3)
SF - Ivo Karlovic (CRO) (#174) 76(3) 63
QF - Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) (#77) 36 63 61
2R - Sam Querrey (USA) (#20) 36 76(5) 63
1R - Tim Smyczek (USA) (#176) 62 62